India needs about $52 billion annually to address urban climate adaptation needs: Report

New Delhi: India needs an estimated $52 billion (about Rs 4.58 lakh crore) annually to address its urban climate adaptation needs effectively, according to a new report on Wednesday.

From scorching heatwaves to record-breaking monsoons, rising air pollution to unseasonal cyclones, climate change is manifesting in increasingly dire ways in urban India.

A new report by The Bridgespan Group, in collaboration with United Way of Mumbai and HSBC India, spotlights opportunities to strengthen climate resilience across India’s vast informal sector, that forms the backbone of every city’s economy and accounts for roughly 40 per cent of India’s urban population.

The study examines how India’s informal workers and settlement dwellers are responding to intensifying climate risks such as heatwaves, f